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<title>Patience by Dusk Peterson (duskpeterson)</title>
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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26655514">Patience</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/duskpeterson/pseuds/Dusk%20Peterson'>Dusk Peterson (duskpeterson)</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>The Eternal Dungeon [13]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Original Work</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>1880s, Alternate Universe - 1880s, Alternate Universe - America, Alternate Universe - Domestic, Alternate Universe - Historical, Alternate Universe - Original, Alternate Universe - Prison, Books, Common Cold, Dungeons, Ethical Issues, Historical slash, Hurt/Comfort, Illnesses, M/M, Original Fiction, Original Slash, Prisonfic, Promptfic, Queer Character(s), Romance, Self-Discipline, Sick Character, Sickfic, Slash, commentfic, don't need to read other stories in the series, dungeon-keepers, flashfic, past plague</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-09-26</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-09-26</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 10:42:38</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>384</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/26655514</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/duskpeterson/pseuds/Dusk%20Peterson</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>
  <b>"I don't need medicine. I need more books to distract me."</b>
</p>
<p>There are patients, and then there are patients who require patience. The world's most famous dungeon-keeper has a cold.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Original Male Character/Original Male Character</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>The Eternal Dungeon [13]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/15843</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>4</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Collections:</b></td><td>Historical Fic, Hold Me: A Comfort Prompfest, Queer Characters Collection</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Patience</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><ul class="associations">
      <li>For <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sholio/gifts">Sholio</a>.</li>



    </ul><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>
  <i><b>Author's note:</b> This is a side story in the Eternal Dungeon series. You don't need to read the other stories in the series to understand this one.</i>
</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p><i>The year 356, the third month. (The year 1880 Clover by the Old
Calendar.)</i>
<br/> 
</p><p>"Layle," said Elsdon, "you simply cannot do this."</p>
<p>"And why not?" he retorted in his most cranky voice. He hated
colds. He
had always hated colds. Colds made him vulnerable. Vulnerability made
him feel like a prisoner.</p>
<p>The fact that he legally <i>was</i> a prisoner in
the royal prison he ran was beside the point.</p>
<p>Elsdon made an attempt to pull some of the books off the bed.
"You'll
smother under all these books!"</p>
<p>If Elsdon thought a few books would smother Layle, the young
man was
clearly in need of lessons on foreign forms of torture.</p>
<p>"Nonsense," said Layle as he moved a few books out of reach of
his
love-mate. "Hand me another of those art books. It's on the third
shelf."</p>
<p>Elsdon said, with a patience that Layle thought admirable if
annoying,
"It's time for your medicine."</p>
<p>"I don't need medicine. I need more books to distract me." The
volume
of Vovimian art should pass that test. It had lovely etchings of
prisoners on racks. The etchings might make him feel a bit better. He
wasn't quite that bad off.</p>
<p>"You need medicine." Elsdon's patience was clearly beginning
to fray.</p>
<p>Layle wondered what it would take to fray it entirely. "Fine,"
he said,
and flung the whole bloody pile of books onto the floor. Where Elsdon
would have to pick them up.</p>
<p>Elsdon – Hell damn the man – didn't so much as blink. He
burrowed
through the pile a bit, as though searching for something. Then he
picked up a book, flipped through the pages, and laid the open book on
Layle's lap. "Here's your medicine."</p>
<p>It was a history book, telling of the plague years, when
patients had
been abandoned even by their healers and nurses, left to die in agony
on their own. . . .</p>
<p>Layle looked up. Elsdon wasn't watching; he was carefully
picking up
each volume and placing them in stacks.</p>
<p>It took a moment for Layle to clear his throat. "My dear, I
don't want
to take up any more of your time."</p>
<p>Elsdon smiled. Sitting down on the bed, he moved the medicine
bottles
within reach on the nearby table and began to spoon each dose into
Layle's mouth, interspersing the doses with kisses.
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p><a href="http://duskpeterson.com/cvhep.htm#patience">Publication history</a>.</p>
<p>This story was written for <a href="https://sholio.dreamwidth.org/1347813.html">Hold Me: a comfort promptfest</a>. The prompt by <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/users/sholio">Sholio</a> was: "The absolute <i>worst</i> patient." Which could only mean one man.</p>
<p>This story was originally published at <a href="http://duskpeterson.com">duskpeterson.com</a>. The story is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. Copyright © 2020 Dusk Peterson. Permission is granted for fanworks inspired by this story. Please credit Dusk Peterson and duskpeterson.com for the original story.</p></blockquote></div></div>
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